Drive Center
A drive center is used in the driving end of the machine (headstock). It consists of a dead center surrounded by hardened teeth. These teeth bite into the softer workpiece allowing the workpiece to be driven directly by the center. This allows the full diameter of the workpiece to be machined in a single operation, this contrasts with the usual requirement where a carrier is attached to the workpiece at the driven end. They are often used in woodworking or where softer materials are machined.
Drive centers are also known as grip centers in some industrial circles. Another modification made to the drive center is that shell end mills are modified and used instead of hardened pins that enable better gripping and also that used of used Shell end mills after grinding the edges. This prevents breakdown time due to pin stop .
Read more about this topic: Lathe Center
Famous quotes containing the words drive and/or center:
“You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, yet she’ll be constantly running back.”
—Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65–8 B.C.)
“It is written in the Book of Usable Minutes
That all things have their center in their dying....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)